Love is never gone,
by painswicks
Summary: A Glee Wemma very short story.   -warning: season 2 spoilers-
1. Telephone

Emma gently brushed her auburn hair out of her eyes and sorted through her purse for her keys. Eventually finding them, she twisted the key in the lock and pushed the door open, carrying a larger bag of papers and folders with her.

Carl was not yet home, as usual, he would be working late, probably finishing up a root canal or filling a last cavity before returning. He had promised her that he would help her with her problems, yet she had noticed recently that the routine they encountered every day was never changed. She would arrive home first, begin to prepare dinner, lay the table and Carl would arrive home, finishing up the cooking together and sitting down to eat by 7pm each night.

She neatly placed aside her belongings and removed her green coat; hanging it on the rack next to her husband's. Wearing the coat reminded her of the first time she and Will had kissed, it was very special to her and despite Carl's encouragements to 'let loose a little and buy some fashionable clothes,' she had refused to give it up. Something happened to her when she wore it. Her heart fluttered and she would fill up with warmth inside.

It wasn't long until the clock showed 6.30 and almost like clockwork Emma listened for a key in the latch. She listened intently for five minutes, which soon became thirty. Panic stricken, she reached for the telephone and dialled Carl's number. Ringing until it cut to the voicemail, she did not leave a message but decided to remain calm and continue with dinner – after all he would surely be home by the time it was ready.

He was not. Emma rang again, though he still did not answer. Maybe his phone was switched off, although there was no dialling tone. Maybe he had got caught up in some difficult dentistry, but it was so unusual. Deciding that she should go and search for her husband, Emma queried over where to go.

Just as she had buttoned her coat and ensured that oven had cooled, Emma heard a faint ringing from inside her purse. She fumbled around, quickly pressing the answer button and blurting out "Where are you?" before realising that it was not Carl who had telephoned.

"Emma?" he inquired with a worried tone, "Are you okay?"

"Oh, Will?" she sighed, recognising his soft voice at once, "It's just ... never mind. Can I help you?"

"I was just wondering if you'd got a copy of the new staff timetable," he replied "I seem to have ... well ... _misplaced_ mine." She was sure she heard a faint, nervous breath, as though he was smiling to himself.

"Ah, I see," she said, so engaged with the conversation that she began to forget about Carl, "I have mine, obviously. You know I don't lose things; everything is colour-coded with a special place in my organiser."

"That's what I'd hoped," Will laughed, "I can always count on Emma Pillsbury to be organised when I need something."

She cleared her throat and whispered, "Pillsbury-Howell."

"Of course, Pillsbury-Howell," he said, sounding a little flustered, "Sorry."

"Anyway, when do you need the timetable," Emma asked, trying to change the subject. She knew that Will was never more than accepting towards her relationship with Carl and longed not to upset him, especially since he seemed to be struggling to move on from her.

"As soon as possible, really. I have a lot of classes to plan for and I'd be interested to know when exactly they are taking place," he said, "Maybe you could just read it out to me and I'll note it down?"

She did not want to miss an opportunity to have a proper conversation with Will; all of their chat at school had lately become trivial or a simple 'Hello' while passing in the corridor. Carl had become extremely cautious of Will following his and Emma's run in when the Glee club had performed the Rocky Horror Picture Show and no longer permitted her to see him after school. Of course, they still had a full trust policy and she could never deny her husband the truth and she would tell him, as soon as he returned with a reason for missing dinner.

"It is quite a lot to copy down, Will," she said, ensuring that he would accept her idea, "Perhaps if I came over and you made a photocopy?"

"Isn't Carl a bit ... sensitive if you talk to me anymore?" he replied, a sense of care for her in his tone.

"No - he's out at the moment," she assured, "Anyway, we are just two colleagues sharing work information, right?"

"Err ... right," he agreed, "I'm in all evening, so if you are sure about this?"

"Yes, I'll come around right away," Emma said, ending the call and turning off the light switch. She opened the door and quickly locked it, rushing down the stairs and starting her old, but extremely clean car.

**Please review and give me pointers :)**


	2. Answered

**Sorry it has taken so long to update, but I have been really busy and I had a case of writers block :(**  
**Please enjoy & I promise to update much faster next time** .

Will smiled as he ended the call, anxious for what he would say once Emma arrived.

Getting up off the sofa, he glanced around his apartment and realised how little he had cleaned lately, especially since his last visitor was Shannon Beiste, that night that they had got a bit _tipsy_.

He remembered that although Emma had changed considerably since she had married Carl, she was still struggling through therapy to help with her problems and he did not want to offend her by leaving the room in a horrible state. Quickly, Will ran towards the kitchen and sorted through the cupboards until he found some rubbish bags and a bottle of half-full antibacterial spray, beginning to grab the empty beer bottles and pizza boxes on his way.

'Wow, Will have you really let yourself go this much?' he thought to himself as he had put the final sheet of paper back into a ring binder in his satchel. Will was just wiping down the kitchen surface with some force when he heard the doorbell ring. Unaware that he was still clutching the cleaning bottle, he made his way over to the door.

Emma waited patiently outside and looked around, memories of their past relationship coming back. She recalled when she and Will had enjoyed date nights together, just after Terri had left and she couldn't help but imagine him stumbling in with Shannon following his drinking session a few weeks back. Giggling quietly to herself, Emma held a hand to her mouth to prevent Will from overhearing and the awkward moment that would follow of her having to explain what was so funny.

A few moments later, the door was opened and she saw Will's smiling face; his soft, hazel eyes enticing her attention, as though she had not noticed them for a long time.

"Hey, are you okay?" Will asked, wondering why she had not greeted him.

Noticing how she had been staring for longer than she anticipated, Emma replied "Yes, sorry. I was just daydreaming,"

Will hoped that she had been thinking about him, as he had been thinking about her.

Her attention was soon diverted to the antibacterial spray that he was holding and she smiled, looking down at it. He noticed that her eyes had drifted towards his hands and realising that he was still grasping the bottle, he laughed, for inability to respond.

"Have you been cleaning, Will?" Emma asked playfully, as he took her coat and she walked into the lounge. He could smell her perfume, it was a lovely scent which he knew so well and it distracted him so much that he did not hear her question.

"Will?" she said, believing that he was purposely ignoring her, "I said have you been cleaning?"

"Ah, well. I'll be honest, yes," he replied, gazing towards the floor to avoid further embarrassment.

"That's really nice of you," she smiled. He looked up immediately as he was not expecting this response at all. He invited her to sit on the sofa and went to the kitchen to make coffee.

Whilst he filled the pot with coffee beans and uncovered two clean cups from a cabinet above the counters, Emma opened her purse and removed the timetable.

Will poured the drinks and carried them over to the sofa, where he passed it to Emma, careful not to spill any on her perfect blouse and pencil skirt. She took the mug and placed the timetable gently onto the glass coffee table nearby.

Slowly, Will sat down on the sofa next to her and they both grinned as their glances met.

"So," he began, desiring to have a friendly conversation that he had missed so much, "How is Carl?"

Emma looked slightly uncomfortable at these words, bringing her thoughts back to the reality that he was not answering his phone, but answered Will with the truth.

"I – I'm not sure," she said, cupping the mug with both hands and looking down at the coffee swirling inside it, "He hasn't shown up after work, he wasn't answering his phone and I don't know what else to do."

He was shocked at this reaction, she looked as if she could burst into tears at any moment and Will did not like the way that Carl had upset her so much.

"Look, maybe you should try calling him again?" Will suggested, wanting to comfort her.

"I've called him about 20 times Will, if he has checked his phone, he should have rung me back by now, right?" she asked, so confused that she was unaware of the answer to her own question. Will simply nodded gently and she took this as the opportunity to try ringing Carl again on her cell phone.

She rummaged through her purse again and uncovered her phone, only to discover that the battery was dead. Emma put her head in her hands, despairing at how badly her evening had gone so far. The phone was settled next to where she was sitting on the sofa, between her and Will. He noticed that the screen was blank and jumped up off the sofa, setting his coffee mug down on a coaster nearby.

When he returned to the lounge from the bedroom, Emma was quietly sobbing into her hands.

"Em," Will said, softly stroking her back, "Here." He passed her the cordless phone that he had picked up from its charger in his room.

She wiped the tear which was rolling down her cheek and smiled at Will while keying in Carl's number. Sighing, Emma pressed the dial button again after it had rung through to voicemail once. To her complete surprise, the second time there was an answer.

"Hello," said Carl, with a deep tone to his voice.

"Carl? Where are you? Are you okay?" Emma asked, rushing through further questions in her mind.

"Oh, Ems it's you. I'm fine," he answered, clearly taken aback by Emma's panic, "I'm at the Ohio Dentist's Convention, it's in Columbus. I swear I told you about this a few weeks back."

"No Carl. In fact you did not tell me ever that you were going to a convention," she said, her tone becoming more and more hostile with every word. Nervously, Will took the timetable to the study, where his computer was now that all of Terri's craft things had been moved out. He did not want to seem rude and listen in to Carl and Emma's argument, though he couldn't help but overhear as the door was slightly ajar.

He heard Emma continue, "I think I would've remembered if you had told me. Anyway, why have you been ignoring my calls all evening, it is a bit suspicious when I know your cell phone has caller ID."

"I was really busy getting settled into the hotel and my phone was switched off for the journey as I was driving. It _is_ dangerous to answer the phone whilst driving, you know," Carl said sarcastically.

"I made dinner and everything," she said sadly. Will remembered how flawlessly she had laid the table when they had been together and smiled to himself while the printer began photocopying.

"Well, I refuse to have this conversation now. I'll talk about it when you get home, which is when exactly?" she said in reply to something Carl had said.

Concluding the call with "Have a nice time, I'll see you in a week's time," she put the phone down and sighed heavily.

Will, having finished photocopying five minutes earlier, re-entered the lounge and returned to his seat on the sofa.

Emma burst into tears before he could say anything and he reacted by placing both his arms around her and holding her tightly. He felt warmth inside that he only felt when he was close to her. Knowing that there was nothing he could say to make her feel any better, he simply held her in his arms for what seemed like an eternity.

**Please review & thank you for reading :)**


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